We often take for granted the most important things in life: our health, our income and so on. But what about all those things around the home: the iPad, the flatscreen, the jewellery and so on?

Many people only learn about the importance of their assets when disaster or misfortune strikes.  You can’t replace the memories and personal mementoes but home insurance can provide the money to rebuild and replace lost assets.

What many people don’t realise is that home contents insurance often includes the cost of rebuilding the house as well all the surrounding fixtures such as garages and fences.

One trap you should avoid is being under-insured. Only covering yourself for a portion of your asset value may reduce the cost in the short term, but if your home contents are worth, say, $100,000, and you only get home insurance for $70,000, in the event of a disaster you’ll need to find the $30,000 to replace the lost assets not covered by insurance.

Home contents insurance might not cost as much as you’d imagined, so get a quote or go online to compare home insurance deals. You might also want to consider bundling home and car insurance to receive a discount.

‘Don’t risk what you can’t afford to lose’ is an old saying, but when it comes to your home and possessions, it’s not one you want to test out.

See also life insurance, which offers your family protection in the event that something unfortunate happens to you.